Executive Order 12557 Constitutional Neutral (+0.02)

Executive Order 12557—Establishment of Emergency Board No. 209 To Investigate a Railroad Labor Dispute

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Friday, May 16, 1986

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2 min read (314 words)

Plain-English Translation & Framers' Constitutional Analysis

Early Statesman synthesis distilling legal jargon into practical meaning, statutory anchors, and structural constitutional impacts.

This executive order, signed by President Ronald Reagan on 1986-05-16, establishes federal administrative policy concerning "Establishment of Emergency Board No. 209 To Investigate a Railroad Labor Dispute." It outlines operative directives for executive department officers, delegating enforcement responsibilities and establishing official governance guidelines.

Constitutional Assessment: This action represents an orderly exercise of Article II administrative discretion, managing the internal machinery and personnel of the executive branch without abridging the ancient liberties of the people.

Key Directives & Operative Actions

▪ These disputes have not heretofore been adjusted under the provisions of the Railway Labor Act, as amended (the "Act").

▪ There is hereby established, effective May 16, 1986, a board of three members to be appointed by the President to investigate these disputes.

▪ No member shall be pecuniarily or otherwise interested in any organization of railroad employees or any carrier.

▪ The board shall perform its functions subject to the availability of funds.

Constitutional & Societal Entities Impacted

🏛️ Executive Branch Departments 🏛️ General Body of the People

Total Words

314

1,936 characters

Estimated Read Time

2 min

@ 200 words / min

Flesch-Kincaid

12.2

Post-Grad reading level

Constitutional Polarity

+0.02

Framers' Alignment index

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Scholarly & Legal Citations

Exec. Order No. 12557, Ronald Reagan (May 16, 1986). Available at https://executiveordersarchive.org/orders/app-executive-order-12557-establishment-emergency-board-no-209-investigate-railroad-labor.

Official Document Text

Source: The American Presidency Project (UCSB Archive)

Original Source →

Establishing an Emergency Board To Investigate Disputes Between the Maine Central Railroad Company/Portland Terminal Company and Certain of Their Employees Represented by the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Disputes exist between the Maine Central Railroad Company/Portland Terminal Company and certain of their employees represented by the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees. These disputes have not heretofore been adjusted under the provisions of the Railway Labor Act, as amended (the "Act"). These disputes, in the judgment of the National Mediation Board, threaten substantially to interrupt interstate commerce to a degree such as to deprive a section of the country of essential transportation services. Now, Therefore, by the authority vested in me by Section 10 of the Act (45 U.S.C. § 160), it is hereby ordered as follows: Section 1. Establishment of Board. There is hereby established, effective May 16, 1986, a board of three members to be appointed by the President to investigate these disputes. No member shall be pecuniarily or otherwise interested in any organization of railroad employees or any carrier. The board shall perform its functions subject to the availability of funds. Sec. 2. Report. The board shall report its findings to the President with respect to these disputes within 30 days from the date of its creation. Sec. 3. Maintaining Conditions. As provided by Section 10 of the Act, from the date of the creation of the board and for 30 days after the board has made its report to the President, no change, except by agreement of the parties, shall be made by the carriers or the employees in the conditions out of which these disputes arose. Sec. 4. Expiration. The board shall terminate upon the submission of the report provided for in Section 2 of this Order. RONALD REAGAN The White House, May 16, 1986. [Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 4:49 p.m., May 16, 1986]